'Echos From Beyond The Grave'

What’s Stoppin’ You?

While getting my hair trimmed I encountered a young woman, a hair stylist who had cut my hair at least once in the past year. We greeted and after a short introduction began to talk about how she was having a difficult time making enough money cutting hair by the hour and that she needed to consider what else she may do in the future. Based on something that I had spoken with her about the first time we met, I reiterated that there may be a way for her to make some good money doing what she loves to do and it could serve to move her closer to her dream. She perked up and you could tell that I had her attention. I told her that on more than one occasion I had thought how nice it would be to have a personal hairstylist who was mobile and able to cut hair on location…whenever and wherever…by appointment.

She then proceeded to repeat what she had told me the first time we met. She said, “I have always wanted to convert an old school bus into an RV with a Mobile Salon and travel across the country cutting hair along the way.” I proceeded to affirm that we had spoken about her dream before and then I ask her WHAT’S STOPPIN’ YOU? She said, “well I want to do it right if I do it, and wherever I set up shop I would need to be licensed in every state in order to cut hair.” I continued to challenge her thinking with suggestions as to what she could do to get started. First, I told her that she did not need to worry about being licensed in every state until she had purchased and old school bus, and that she did not need to be concerned about everything that it was going to take to live her dream until she converted the bus into and RV with a salon in it. J I also told her that if she really loved the thought of traveling the country in a school bus that she could cut hair for donations and do some pro-bono work for the homeless and indigent that she encountered along the way. Then she got real quiet and I knew that I was speaking to the heart and motive of her dream.

To be honest, I already had an idea that she was not that committed to her own dream and what came out of her mouth next confirmed my assumption. She said, “well to be honest with you, this is something that is in the back of my mind; but in reality, it will more than likely never happen.”

I concluded our discussion by saying, “You never know, you might find someone who shares the same dream and you may be able to pursue it together.” Don’t give up on your dream…Don’t chase your passion, take it with you wherever you go from here.

What I took away from our encounter was priceless. What she took away from the encounter will serve to challenge her to take a closer look at what she really wants to do with her life…

Note: The more I encouraged her to think about all of the different options, the more she saw the things standing in her way. The more I spoke to her about her dream, the more it became something in the back of her mind. The sad part about our encounter was, she so easily dismissed the dream of buying a school bus, converting it, and traveling across the country cutting hair, based on the fear of failure and the real or imagined challenge of ‘What’s Stoppin’ You?